Silver Solder removal?

Hi, I have an AR with AK muzzle Brake that is permanently attached with silver solder.I would like to remove and replace with a different hider of the same length. can I just heat with Mapp gas and spin off ? or will I have to use acetylene? is the heat going to discolor my barrel finish? and is the AR barrel threaded right hand or left? Thanks, Tom

Silver solder melts at between 840 - 950 F depending on the grade and quality of the solder. This is just below the tempering temperature of steel. The real trick is to heat it just enough, and do not quench in cold water. Hot oil or better yet, molten lead or salt.

Allowing to air cool may affect the temper of the steel.

I am very willing to be corrected on this. I do not profess to be a Metalurgist. I just know that when I have done this, I quench in molten lead, and then in boiling hot water. This method was taught to me by a real genius, and I do not pretend to understand why. I do know that existing finishes like hot blue and park are less effected by this method cosmetically.

^"If this is a factory bushmaster with the miniture ak74 brake they are blind pinned not silver soldered."--Not trying to be argumenitive, but my Bushmaster had that very brake and it was only silver soldered. Now they may have started pinning them later but mine was not.Just sayin as they say. Now what I did to get it off easier was to grind the brake down very thin where the threads are,then apply heat. The finish was slightly discolored,but hardly noticable. It being thinner allowed the heat to do its job better. I had tried it w/o grinding and it would not come loose w/o putting alot more heat on it than I was comfortable with. Good luck! (also by grinding u can tell if it has a blind pin)

@ mt dew. All three bushies I have pulled that brake off have been blind pinned. I know that one of them was purchased in the first few months of the cli.ton ban. The other two I dont know when they were made. Bushie is not known for its consistency or even lately reliability.

@ original poster, mt dew is right that grinding it down will make either attachment method obvious. Two bushies had a pin on top and one on the bottom. The other had only one pin underneath.

1phast340, did u have any luck getting it off? Mine was a pita, but It finally gave up and came off. I pulled the new flash supp off the other day for cleaning and there was no blind pin recess, but mine was bought just before the ban, so yours may have a pin and silver.